The Gators gave up a dunk on their first defensive set against North Carolina A&T tonight, and coach Billy Donovan yanked Kenny Boynton out of the game for the mistake.
Boynton was out of position on defense and did not help as A&T’s Thomas Coleman flew to the rim. He was supposed to be in the lane, which was why he ended up the bench 1:17 into the game.

“I looked back and I was like, ‘Me?'” Boynton said. “The next play, the guy I was guarding, I caused him to get a turnover, so I was very surprised.

“They said I was in the wrong position on defense, so they had to pull me out. Just like that. First play of the game. I was in the wrong place. I kind of slept on that. It was my fault. They pulled me out quick.”

Donovan said pulling Boynton so early was not necessarily to send Boynton a message, but rather to set the tone for the rest of the team.

“I think as a coach, when you’ve got one of your better players that’s out there, those younger guys understand that if he’s coming out of the game for not being where he’s supposed to be, I’m probably coming out of the game, too,” Donovan said.